Scientific Open-access Literature Archive and Repository
Not a member yet
16397 research outputs found
Sort by
Esophageal Bullous Pemphigoid
Get PDFBullous pemphigoid is a rare autoimmune dermatologic disease that usually occurs in the elderly. Mucous membrane lesions occur in about 10–35% of patients and are almost always limited to the oral mucous membrane. Esophageal involvement is very rare (4% of cases) and usually presents with chest pain, dysphagia, and odynophagia, though patients are frequently asymptomatic. We report the case of newly diagnosed bullous pemphigoid in a 76-year-old man with a past medical history of dementia. He presented with cutaneous manifestations but also severe gastrointestinal bleeding due to extensive esophageal involvement. Although bullous pemphigoid is mainly a skin disease, mucous membrane lesions should not be overlooked as they are associated with an even poorer outcome. A high index of suspicion for esophageal involvement is needed as its presentation can be fatal, as with our patient
Painless Presentation of a Deadly Disease:Type A Aortic Dissection Requiring the Bentall Procedure
Get PDFAortic dissection is a relatively uncommon, although catastrophic, disease which requires early and accurate diagnosis and treatment for patient survival. Aortic dissection can be difficult to diagnose due to the diverse symptom presentation, which can lead to later diagnosis, resulting in a higher mortality rate. Here we present a case of type A aortic dissection with a varied symptom presentation, highlighting the importance of early detection and the Bentall procedure for management of such cases. A 50-year-old man with no known medical history presented with bilateral lower extremity swelling and fatigue for 2 weeks. The patient denied any chest pain or dyspnoea. Vital signs showed blood pressure of 160/76 mmHg, pulse of 103 bpm, respiratory rate of 18, and temperature of 36.7°C. Laboratory findings indicated a BNP of 1901 pg/ml and troponin of 0.5 ng/ml. An initial diagnosis of decompensated heart failure was made, and IV Lasix was started. Subsequently, an echocardiogram indicated an EF of 50–55% and ascending dissection of the aorta. A CT angiogram of the chest and abdomen confirmed this diagnosis. This patient presented with unusual symptoms of aortic dissection without the typical presentation of chest pain. It is important to consider aortic dissection in a cardiac-related case as prompt imaging can help confirm the diagnosis. We explore the risks and benefits of the Bentall procedure for the management and early detection of aortic dissectio
The running vacuum in effective quantum gravity
No full textWe briefly review the previous works on the renormalization group in quantum general relativity with the cosmological constant, based on the Vilkovisky and DeWitt version of effective action. On top of that, we discuss the prospects of
the applications of this version of renormalization group to the cosmological models with a running Newton constant and vacuum energy density
Instillation of Povidone-Iodine as A Management of Chyluria: A Case Report
Get PDFBackground: Chyluria is usually associated with parasitic disease caused by Wuchereria bancrofti and is rare in non-endemic regions. The management of chyluria varies according to the severity of the condition. This report describes a case of mild chyluria and successful treatment using sclerotherapy. Case description: A 44-year-old man presented with a first episode of painless milky urine. The diagnosis of chyluria was established following retrograde pyelography showing a fistula between the right pelviocalyces and the retroperitoneal lymphatic systems. The patient had not
travelled to any endemic regions. Sclerotherapy using povidone-iodine was carried out resulting in closure of the fistula. Conclusion: Sclerotherapy using povidone-iodine as the sclerosing agent was effective and safe for the management of a patient with mild chyluria. However, the best treatment for chyluria should be tailored to the patient’s condition
A Signet Cell Carcinoma of the Ileum: A Rare Differential Diagnosis of Intestinal Pathology with Fistula Mimicking Crohn’s Disease
Get PDFColorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death in the USA. Primary signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) of the colon and rectum is extremely rare with a reported incidence of less than 1%. Here we present the case of a 41-year-old man who presented with abdominal pain, severe microcytic anaemia and a negative faecal occult blood test (FOBT). A CT scan of the abdomen revealed thickening of the terminal ileum and proximal right colon with extensive lymphadenopathy and a fistula tract extending from the terminal ileum to the right buttock. Endoscopic features like cobblestoning of the ileocolic junction along with elevated blood and stool inflammatory markers raised suspicion of Crohn’s disease (CD). However, histopathological study surprisingly revealed primary colorectal signet cell carcinoma (PCRSCC) with no evidence of CD. Cases of simultaneous PCRSCC and CD have been reported, but no clear association has been established. Our case is unique in that it presented with classic clinical features of CD, but PCRSCC without any histological evidence of underlying CD was found on histology
Moyamoya Disease: When Should You Look for a Genetic Cause of Stroke?
Get PDFIntroduction: Strokes are common but can be caused by a rare illness. Moyamoya disease (MMD) justifies a family assessment because of its hereditary nature and the availability of new therapies. Case description: A 42-year-old man was admitted because of convulsions with sensorimotor deficit due to a massive cerebral haemorrhage caused by MMD. The fact that the patient died suggested his children should be screened. Discussion: MMD is rare and its consequences disastrous. Many cases in both children and adults have been described. Investigations should be carried out when the diagnosis is suspected, and, if confirmed, the family should be screened given the genetic nature of some forms of the disease. Effective and increasingly personalized therapeutic solutions are available. Conclusions: A minority of strokes are caused by rare diseases including MMD. Our current knowledge of this pathology and the treatments available justify a family assessment when the clinical or family context requires it
Characterization of the ENEA extreme ultraviolet radiation discharge produced plasma source, by using diamond detectors developed at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
No full textAfter a brief introduction, including a summing up of the main characteristics of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, we describe the ENEA Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) EUV source. The DPP emits 100-ns duration EUV pulses, in the λ = 10–18 nm wavelength spectral range. The in-band energy per pulse is about 30 mJ/sr at 10 Hz repetition rate. In addition to the already performed characterizations, we recently exploited high purity monocrystalline diamond
detectors developed at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. The configuration of the electrodes of the used devices was
the interdigitated one, particularly suitable for fast measurements. Thanks to the rapid temporal response of these detectors, the fast peaks of EUV emission (7–8 ns FWHM), superimposed on the main pulses, have been characterized much better than when using silicon PIN diodes. These rapid emission peaks occur at the maximum heating and radial compression of the plasma column. Finally, by using the
DPP source, a useful characterization and calibration of the diamond detectors has been obtained in the λ = 10–18 nm range, by comparison with a reference absolute PIN diode
Optimization of spin coherence time at a prototype storage ring for electric dipole moment measurements
No full textThe JEDI experiment is devoted to the search for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of charged particles in a storage ring, as a very sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. In order to reach the highest possible sensitivity, a fundamental parameter to be optimized is the Spin Coherence Time (SCT), i.e., the time interval within which the particles of the stored beam maintain a net
polarization greater than 1/e. To identify the working conditions that maximize the SCT, accurate spin-dynamics simulations with the code BMAD have been performed on the lattice of a “prototype” storage ring which uses a combination of electric and magnetic fields for bending. This work will present the results of these simulations addressing the impact on the SCT of different factors like horizontal tune, synchrotron tune and effect of the electric bending components
Magnetically excited breather modes in an overlap-geometry Josephson tunnel junction
No full textA scheme for the controlled generation of single traveling sineGordon breathers in a long Josephson junction is described. In the presence of dissipation, a direct current source, and thermal fluctuations, the theoretical analysis
shows that, through the nonlinear supratransmission effect, tailored magnetic pulses at the junction’s edge can effectively yield breather modes only
Studies on dynamical shell formation for direct-drive laser fusion
No full textWe consider a recently proposed target concept for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (Goncharov V. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 125 (2020) 065001). A homogeneous sphere is irradiated by an appropriately timed laser pulse,
leading to the (dynamic) formation of a dense shell. This shell is then imploded to high velocity to achieve the conditions needed for thermonuclear ignition. Here we
study, by means of one-dimensional and two-dimensional simulations, a scaled-down target suitable for a proof-of-principle experiment, which can be performed on the laser OMEGA at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester University